In 1986, Rudy Vallee, one of the nation's most popular singers in the 1920s and '30s, died at the age of 84.

In 1988, missiles fired from the USS Vincennes brought down an Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

In 1992, the U.S. Air Force joined an international airlift of food and medical supplies to besieged residents of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1996, Boris Yeltsin was re-elected president of Russia, defeating Gennadi Zyuganov in a runoff.

In 2008, after being held for nearly six years by Colombian rebels, 15 hostages, including three U.S. military contractors and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, were freed by commandos who had infiltrated the rebels' leadership.

In 2009, Sarah Palin, who became a national figure as the Republican candidate for vice president in 2008, announced she was resigning as governor of Alaska with 17 months to go in her term.

In 2010, at least 230 people were killed in a blast sparked by a cigarette near an overturned oil tanker truck in the Republic of the Congo.

In 2011, Thailand was in line for its first female prime minister after Yingluck Shinawatra and her Pheu Thai party scored a rousing victory over the ruling party in the nation's first general election since 2007.

In 2012, actor Andy Griffith, most famous for his role as a wise, folksy sheriff in the long-running TV show that bore his name, died at his home in North Carolina. He was 86.

A thought for the day: Gustave Flaubert said, "Of all lies, art is the least untrue."

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